Nonfiction Wednesday - A Nonfiction Caldecott Winner!

 

I'm excited that Alyson Beecher, at Kid Lit Frenzy, is continuing her Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge for the fifth year in a row.

 

 

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick, illustrated by Sophie Blackall

 

	2015-book, animals, award-winner, biography, creative nonfiction, leaving-a-legacy, nonfiction, nonfiction-challenge-2016, picture-book

I don't know what is wrong with me! I thought I had read this, so when it won the Caldecott, I picked it back up again to reread (I had it in my stack of mock-Caldecotts/Siberts for my students), but then I realized I hadn't! I had only read the other Winnie book published this year. I even knew there were two about Winnie, but I thought I had read both. Ugh. Anyway, now I've read Finding Winnie, and it is wonderful!! I loved Sally Walker's telling, too, but Finding Winnie brought tears to my ey I don't know what is wrong with me! I thought I had read this, so when it won the Caldecott, I picked it back up again to reread (I had it in my stack of mock-Caldecotts/Siberts for my students - many of them picked Finding Winnie as their Mock Caldecott choice), but then I realized I hadn't! I had only read the other Winnie book published this year. I even knew there were two 2015 books about Winnie, but I thought I had read both. Ugh. Anyway, now I've read Finding Winnie, and it is wonderful!! I loved Sally Walker's telling, too, but Finding Winnie brought tears to my eyes. I love that it is told from Lindsay Mattick's point of view; she is the great-granddaughter of Captain Harry Colebourn, and she tells Winnie's story to her own son. I also love Blackall's tender, beautiful illustrations - I'm a big fan of hers and am so glad she won!! A Fine Dessert, written by Emily Jenkins and illustrated by Blackall, was another 2015 favorite of mine! Congrats to Lindsay Mattick and Sophie Blackall! I'm going to buy both Winnie books for my classroom - it will be fun for my students to read both.    Read Mr. Schu's blog post on Sophie Blackall and her big win:  Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall

 

Out of the Woods: A True Story of an Unforgettable Event by Rebecca Bond

 

2015-book, biography, fearandcourage, nonfiction, nonfiction-challenge-2016, picture-book   What an interesting true story told by the granddaughter of Antonio Willie Giroux. When Antonio was a boy, he lived in Ontario in a hotel that his mother ran. The description of his life there, accompanied by beautiful illustrations, seemed peaceful, interesting, and adventurous. His life was briefly interrupted, though, by a terrible forest fire. He and the hotel guests, along with all the people of the village, ran to safety by standing in the lake. The animals of the forest - foxes, rabbits, What an interesting true story told by the granddaughter of Antonio Willie Giroux. When Antonio was a boy, he lived in Ontario in a hotel that his mother ran. The description of his life there, accompanied by beautiful illustrations, seemed peaceful, interesting, and adventurous. His life was briefly interrupted, though, by a terrible forest fire. He and the hotel guests, along with all the people of the village, ran to safety by standing in the lake. The animals of the forest - foxes, rabbits, bobcats, raccoons, wolves, elk, bears, etc., started emerging from the trees and heading to the lake, too. Miraculously, all the creatures peacefully waited out the fire. When it subsided, everyone and every animal went quietly back to their homes. The hotel was not touched. What an amazing experience that must have been!        Aaron and Alexander: The Most Famous Duel in American History by Don Brown   2015-book, american-revolution, biography, compare-contrast, history, nonfiction, nonfiction-challenge-2016, politicians,  social-studies-connections, text-structures   I met Don Brown at the Dublin Literacy Conference in 2014! So happy for his Sibert Honor win for Drowned City!   This is a fascinating compare/contrast biography of Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. I didn't know a lot of the background of the two men before reading this picture book. Kids will be fascinated (and probably horrified) by the somewhat common practice of dueling to settle disputes if they haven't heard of it before. Great mentor text for our Common Core standard on text structures.                         W is for Webster: Noah Webster and His American Dictionary by Tracey E. Fern, illustrated by Boris Kulikov   2015-book, biography, nonfiction, nonfiction-challenge-2016, picture-book, vocabulary   Interesting and entertaining biography of Noah Webster! I loved the sophisticated vocabulary the author used to describe Webster's thoughts and feelings about things while providing the common words to describe the same thing. For instance - "Everywhere, Noah thought the schools were 'wretched' and the British textbooks being used were 'defective and erroneous.' That was Noah's way of saying they stunk." It would be fun for students to try out that writing strategy!